JAMES - A Romanogers Story
by gcruz9023
Summary: Steve Rogers is a scientist who develops a drug capable of preventing miscarriages, but it needs to be tested in humans. However, its creation is denied by the Board of Medicine. But with the help of Tony Stark, they decide to test it secretly. And who is the chosen guinea pig? Yes, Steve himself. Fanfic based on the 1994 movie "Junior", starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny D
1. The Big Day, Part 1

**Steve**

The alarm goes off, but I'm already awake, staring at the ceiling. The big day finally arrives. Today I will know if a year of research, testing and sleepless nights were worth it. It's not every day that you are capable to create a drug that is able to help women with fertility problems, which forms a kind of barrier that protects the fetus, helping it develop and avoiding in almost 100% spontaneous abortions, common in the first quarter.

During all this time, tests were carried out on chimpanzees with constant abortion histories, obtaining a positive result in the efficiency of the drug. Now, I just need to know if the same will happen to humans. And that is what I intend to achieve today; approval of the Board of Medicine.

So for my day to start well, I get out of bed on the right foot. I go to the bathroom, pouring water on my face. I change my pajamas into my jogging clothes - a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt - I put on my sneakers, get my glasses on the bedside table – I'm totally blind without them - and I leave for my daily morning run.

I return exactly an hour later, sweaty, but well disposed. I always feel more refreshed after a race and I'm going to need a lot of energy today. I take a relaxing bath, choose my best suit, and as I put on my tie, I stare into the mirror.

"Today is your big day, Rogers.", I say to myself, with a closed smile.

In the kitchen, I make a quick breakfast; some slices of cake, an apple and juice. When I'm almost finishing it, I hear my cell phone vibrate on the counter. Looking at the display, I see the message icon. I click twice and see it's from Tony.

" _Good morning, Rogers, ready for today?_ "

I type a "good morning", followed by a thumb up.

Seconds later, another message arrives.

" _All right. See you there?_ "

I type "I'll see you there" and put the cell phone back on the counter.

I look at my watch. It's marked 07h15. I put the dirty dishes in the sink, washing them. I don't like mess. I run to the bathroom and brush my teeth.

I go into the living room and pick up the briefcases that I have to take. After checking one by one, I pick up my briefcase, wallet, cell phone and jacket - unfortunately, I didn't own a car. I need to go to the college before going to the hearing. I open the door and leave. Ah! But with the right foot.

 **Tony**

"I'll see you there."

I read Steve's message while I'm getting to my clinic. I park the car and go up the stairs to the second floor. The reception is full. I give everyone a quick "good morning" and head to the reception desk.

"Good morning, Helen."

Helen is organizing some papers. "Good morning doctor Stark."

I look again at the front desk. "We're full today, huh?"

"Totally. But don't worry. It won't disturb your schedule with the audience. And by the way, the first patient is already in the office."

"Thank you."

I take my patient list and go into the hallway. Bruce was coming towards me. We split the clinic.

"Good morning, Tony!"

"Good morning, Banner.", we shake hands.

"Ready for today?"

"The audience? Piece of cake.", I make a gesture with my hand.

"Good luck, then.", he says, moving away.

"Thanks."

I reach the office and open the door, finding a woman sitting on the stretcher with a huge baby bump.

"Hello...", I greet with a smile.

"Good morning, doc. I'm ready to explode."

"Not here, please.", I say joyfully, closing the door.

 **Steve**

As soon as I arrive at the laboratory where I teach, I am greeted with a warm "good morning" from my students. I open a smile and greet them back.

"Are you very excited today, huh? That's nice."

"Today is a special day.", one of my students says. "You're going to rock the Council. Isn't it, guys?"

The others soon follow, with positive phrases, whistles and clapping.

"Thank you all for the support. But now, let's start our class?"

They sit with their notebooks in their hands, while I change my jacket over my lab coat.

...

Two hours later, the class is finished. All my students left the lab. It was one hour before the hearing. I change my lab coat over my jacket, pick up my briefcases and leave the lab, going to a taxi stand.

 **Tony**

Time passes by so quickly... It's time to go to the audience. I finish arranging my briefcase and leave the room, going to the reception, where I find Bruce and Helen talking.

"It's time."

"It's going to be all right, Tony.

"My fingers are crossed.", Helen shows me her crossed fingers.

"Thank you, guys. Today is the beginning of a new era.", I say while leaving the reception, hearing a "good luck" from them.

I take the stairs to the parking lot. I turn on my car and leave.

...

 **Steve**

I'm sitting at the reception of the building where it's going to be made the audience for the last thirty minutes and no Tony. Despite being intelligent and dedicated, it was terrible to meet schedules. I just hope he's on his way.

I rub my hands to ease my nervousness when I hear someone call my name. I look in the direction of the voice, getting up next.

"Nick!", I reach my hand out for him, who squeezes it. "I'm glad you could come."

"No problem.", he looks around. "Where's Stark?"

"Late."

 **Tony**

It's amazing that when you're in a hurry, everything seems to go wrong. I'm stuck in a terrible traffic jam now. Besides, my cell phone went dead and I can't tell Steve where I am. And he is probably thinking awful things about me. The good thing is that I'm two blocks away from the building, so I decide to walk.

I leave the car in a paid parking lot, pick up my things and practically run to there. After about ten minutes, I reach the building, sweaty and panting. I see Steve and Fury in the lobby talking and I go to them.

"Gentlemen,", I say, almost out of breath. "I'm here."

They turned to me. Steve looks me up and down.

"Where were you?"

"Traffic. Do you believe it?", I put my things in a chair. "Fury!", I reach out my hand for him, who squeezes.

"Stark."

"And why are you panting?", Steve asks me.

"I had to leave my car... well away from here and I had to come walking ... I mean, running. Did I arrive on time?"

When Steve was about to answer me, a young woman approached us.

"Good day gentlemen. Come with me, please."

"On the right time, I'm supposed.", I whisper.

We followed her to the elevator. She pushes the button of the seventh floor. Arriving there, we passed through another reception.

"This way.", she points the way, until we arrive in front of a huge double wooden door.

She opens the door, revealing the hall. The U-shaped table is surrounded by at least fifteen leather chairs and is right in the center. On one side, a wall with a huge mirror, similar to those in interrogation rooms and on the other, the huge windows that go from floor to ceiling.

"You can sit here.", she points to the three chairs by the side of the window. "If you like, there's coffee, juice and water on that table.", she points to a more distant table. "They'll be here soon."

"Thank you.", we respond in unison.

"Excuse me.", she says, leaving the place.

Steve pulls out the middle chair and sits down, followed by Nick, who pulls the chair from the left. I look at the mirror in front of me and straighten my hair. Then I turn to the window. I can see the whole avenue, which is still jammed with the traffic. In the background, I can see part of the Golden Gate bridge.

"They have a nice view from here."

"I think you'd better sit down, Tony.", I hear Steve speak.

"Relax. They won't..."

I hear voices approaching. Quickly, I sit down on Steve's right side.


	2. The Big Day, Part 2

**Steve**

All I care now is getting the Board's approval. I pick up the copies I would distribute to them, checking them one by one again, leaving them stacked in a corner.

"They have a nice view from here," I hear Tony speak. That's when I notice he was standing.

"You'd better sit down, Tony."

"Relax. They won't ..." he stops speaking when he hears voices and runs to sit down next to me.

A group appears on the other side of the table; two women and four men. Instantly, I get up, followed by Tony and Nick.

"Gentlemen, good morning," one of the women says.

"Good morning," we replied.

The rest of the group also greets us as they sit down, being reciprocated.

"Feel free to start whenever you want,", the woman says, sitting down.

"Thank you." I reply, taking a deep breath to calm myself.

 _It's time_ , I think.

Tony and Nick look at me and sit down. I stand.

"Once again, good morning, everyone. I would like to thank you for the opportunity to welcome us here today, to publicize our work.", I get the copies and get close to them. "Two tests were done, using chimpanzees as guinea pigs.", I hand the copies over to them. "The first test was done on a chimpanzee without problems of abortion, first to see its reaction to the drug. For a week we monitored their behavior and, after examining blood samples, we didn't find any kind of allergy or reaction to the drug, as you can see in that report.", I returned to my place, after delivering the reports. "Then the same test was done with chimpanzees with abortion problems, obtaining the same result. From this, we move on to the second phase, testing the drug on the same chimpanzee with abortion problems. Two months later, we noticed the pregnancy. Today, this chimpanzee is in the fifth month, without presenting any type of complication. Therefore, based on the results, I ask you for the approval to start the tests on human beings."

I sit down, still feeling my legs shake because of the nervous. But now I feel more relieved. It's like a weight had left my shoulders. For the first time today, I was able to relax. I had done my job. The Council began to talk to each other, reading the papers. I watched them, waiting for what they would say.

"You did well, Rogers." Tony whispers, nudging me lightly.

"Thanks, Tony." I said softly.

After a few seconds, the same woman gets up, causing me to get up almost automatically.

"Mr. Rogers, we will review the tests and in a maximum of one week we will give our verdict. We will investigate the functionality of this drug more accurately."

When I was about to say something, I was interrupted by Tony.

"I'm sorry, but... I don't understand what else has to be figured out. I've followed the whole process closely and I can guarantee that if it's tested on humans, the result will be more than positive."

I became static. I looked at the Council and back at him.

"Tony..." I said, but he ignored me.

"Madam Counselor, I have a clinic specialized in fertilization and I receive many couples with problems to have children, asking me for help. For years I had nothing to offer them. But now... now I have this drug. If you..."

"Mr. Stark?"

Tony is cut off by the Counselor.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"I believe you are aware that this is an audience and that disrespect will not be tolerated."

"I'm sorry, but I wasn't...", he says, but is interrupted again.

"And, as I said before, we'll look at the tests and within a week, we'll give the verdict. Thank you."

Tony sat down and looked at me. And I stared at him earnestly before getting up.

"Thank you for your attention, Ms. Counselor." She nods in response. I pick up my things and leave, leaving everyone behind.

 **Tony**

What else needs to be "investigated", for God's sake? The drug works. Period. And now we still have to wait a week? It seems to be on purpose to torture us. I know it's their job, but...

At the time I didn't think twice. I needed to say something. And I don't regret it. And honestly, at any moment did I was disrespectful. But what can I do?

And that look Rogers gave me... I thought he was going to kill me right there. That approval is important to him, but it's much more important to me.

I know how frustrating it is to desire a child and not succeed. I don't say this as a professional, who hears reports like this every day from my patients. I say from self experience.

Six years ago, I was the happiest man in the world; I had met the woman of my life. Her name? Virginia Potts, whom I affectionately named "Pepper," because of her red hair.

I had just opened the clinic along with Bruce, who was my college classmate. One day, Betty Ross, who was then his girlfriend - today they are married, - went to meet the place and took a friend. It was her. It was love at first sight, literally.

A few days later, we met again on Bruce's birthday. We talked during the whole party. Until I took courage and invited her to a dinner. A month later we were officialy dating.

On our two-year anniversary, I took her to dinner at the same place we had dinner for the first time. And that's where I asked her to marry me. I was very nervous, afraid she would say a loud NO, but then... she smiled at me and said YES through tears. Three months later, she became Mrs. Stark.

Two months later and our lives were at full steam. My clinic was always full - not that I was complaining - and Pepper didn't stop at home, mired of costumers - she was an interior designer. There were so many requests that she even had to turn nights to handle it. Then one day she got sick and I took her to the emergency room. The doctor diagnosed physical exhaustion. It was to be expected. But it wasn't just that. She was also pregnant.

I couldn't believe I was going to be a father. I was overcome with emotion. But then I realized that a child was on the way and that life we were carrying wasn't the ideal for him. Pepper just smiled at me and whispered, "It's going to be all right.". Little did she know that this was only the beginning of a nightmare.

Two weeks passed and she reduced her workday by more than half, respecting the doctor's recommendation to rest and avoid strong emotions. I also reduced my patients so I could spend more time with her.

One night, with a few days left for her to complete three months, she woke up feeling a strong pain in her womb. Arriving at the hospital, after waiting an hour that seemed like an eternity, the doctor came to me and said the worst: she had aborted. That was like a bomb. At the time, I cried a lot. But I had to swallow it, because I had to be strong for Pepper. The doctor explained that it was natural and it's common to happen, but that we could try again in a few months.

Three months later and we tried. She got pregnant. But, like the other time, she lost before she could complete three months. It weakened her a lot. Especially when we tried months later and had the same sad result. Afraid of another abortion, we decided to seek help from specialists, even though I was one. She just couldn't keep up. The doctors said that these abortions were caused by bad formations in the fetus, which hindered their development, causing abortion. So we started a treatment. With a year, we tried again and Pepper managed to get pregnant. It all seemed like it was going to work out. But, again, she aborted.

That was the last straw. Our marriage was by a thread. She went into depression and I, I became obsessed with finding a solution to our problem. I was spending nights in my clinic, studying there, researching here and nothing seemed to emerge.

One night when I got home from work - I don't know how I could work - I found bags in the living room. Pepper was leaving me. I knew it would happen. I begged her not to do that, that I would find a solution, but it was useless. She was determined. And I couldn't do anything. After three months, we were divorced.

My life was over. Nothing else made sense. I had lost everything that mattered to me. And nothing would bring her back. It was impossible not to feel guilty.

That's when Steve Rogers comes into my life.

One day, while reading a magazine, I saw a story about a scientist who was working on a drug that was able to prevent miscarriages. The answer to my prayers was before me. It sounded like a dream. I soon wanted to know more about this drug. I got in touch with Steve, who agreed to meet me at his Brooklyn home.

He told me that his former sponsor broke bonds with the college where he was raising the drug, cutting off the money, forcing him to abandon the project in half. He even tried other sponsors, but no one seemed interested or couldn't afford the costs. I said I could get this sponsorship. Curious, he wanted to know why I was helping him. For a second, I thought about telling him about my history and how much that drug might help me, but I decided to keep it to myself. I was afraid that wouldn't work and I'd disappoint myself once more. So I told him I was just an infertility specialist who saw an alternative to help my patients. And it wasn't a lie at all.

That same day, I got in touch with Nick Fury, a former college professor - not mine - where I studied, now Dean, and I told him about Steve. After long three days, trying to convince his superiors, he got the patronage. Within a week, Steve was already there.

As the months went by and the results turned out to be positive, I was more and more sure that there was the solution to my problem. Now, all that was missing was to test on a human being. Which brings us to the present day.

Now you understand the reason for my "appeal." This drug is everything to me now. And knowing that it depended on another person deciding whether it would be accepted or not is a little frustrating.

The night of that day, lying on my bed, I couldn't help remember what I had been through. The whole suffering and pain... But for the first time in years, I would sleep with the certainty that days like these will never be repeated. Now, all I have to do is wait.


End file.
